Children's Law Center, Inc.

New Release: Putting a Face on Every Child: Ohio's Juvenile Justice Reforms

Ohio, like many other states, mirrored its juvenile system on the adult criminal justice system. Mandatory sentencing laws accompanied that decision, obligating judges to give out fixed sentences without regard to the crime involved, safety risks, or the youth’s capacities. The short video highlights how mandatory get-tough-on crime laws continue to fail Ohio’s youth resulting in low and moderate risk kids being incarcerated for lengthy sentences in large, warehouse-like facilities that are far from home and not resourced to respond to individual needs. As a result, many of these kids come out of the system years later more dangerous than when they entered.

Children’s Law Center, Inc. was fortunate enough to have incarcerated youth, family members, and professionals working in the system share their stories. The DVD is one of two that will be produced on reform efforts in Ohio to help highlight current issues facing Ohioans and opportunities to enhance responses for youth, families and communities. This video spotlights the need for greater judicial discretion and cost-effective sentencing options that foster rehabilitation, by building a continuum of care based upon evidence-based practices that emphasize keeping youth in their communities, in the least restrictive setting possible, with the highest level of intervention, supervision, and services

Copies of the video will be available from our office. Call us at 859-431-3313, or email childrenslaw@fuse.net to obtain a copy.